In a glassware manufacturing machine of the so-called "individual section" type, it is necessary to move operative members between out-of-the-way positions out of alignment with an opening of a cavity of a mould of the machine and operative positions in which the operative member is in alignment with the opening of the cavity and in close proximity thereto. For example, each section of the machine comprises a blank mould in which parisons are formed from gobs of molten glass, by either a pressing or a blowing operation, and it is necessary to move a funnel into alignment with the mould opening so that the funnel can guide a gob into the mould cavity. The funnel is then moved to an out-of-the-way position, to allow a baffle to close the mould cavity opening, The baffle is moved in a similar manner to the funnel in relation to the blank mould. A blowhead, though which air is blown into a finishing mould of the section and in which parisons transferred to the finish mould from the blank mould are blown into articles of glassware, is moved in a similar manner.
Conventional moving means for moving the funnel baffle and blowhead of a machine of the individual section type operates in a similar manner in each case. The moving means comprises a vertically disposed piston and cylinder assembly having a piston with two integral piston rods. One piston rod extends vertically-upwards providing a vertically-extending shaft on which the mounting means for the operative member is mounted for movement with the shaft. The other piston rod extends vertically downwards and carries a cam follower which engages a cam track shaped so that, during part of the movement of the piston along the cylinder, it is caused to turn so that the first-mentioned piston rod turns about a vertical longitudinal axis thereof. The mounting means for the operative member comprises an arm which extends horizontally and on which the operative member is mounted and clamping means by which the mounting means is clamped to the vertically-extending shaft so that the mounting means moves with the shaft. The arrangement is, thus, such that movement of the piston causes the upwardly-extending piston rod to move vertically and to turn about its longitudinal axis so that the operative member makes a movement which has a rotary component about a vertical axis and a linear component in a vertical direction, the linear component moves the operative member towards or away from the opening of the mould cavity while the rotary component moves it into or out of alignment with the opening.
It is necessary that the operative member, whether it be a blowhead, funnel or baffle, be consistently accurately located with respect to the mould if consistently good articles of glassware are to be produced. It is also desirable that fine adjustments to the operative position of the operative members can be made initially to obtain this accurate location. Further it is desirable that one operative member can without difficulty be replaced by another (whether it be for repair purposes or to enable a different article of glassware to be made) and the height of the operative member adjusted without requiring setting up or fine adjustment to the mounting means. In U.S. Pat. No. 3,586,494 a baffle mechanism in an individual section glassware manufacturing machine is described which comprises a vertically extending operating shaft, which is arranged to perform axial and rotary movements, and a parallel vertically extending support shaft. The mounting means for the baffle comprises a head for supporting the baffle, a first link having one end portion secured to the operating shaft and the other pivoted to the head, a second link having one end portion rotatably mounted on the supporting shaft and the other end portion pivoted to the head, the two links and the head forming a parallel linkage. This arrangement has the advantage that once it is set up, the parallel linkage obtains a consistent and accurate location of the baffle in its operative position on repeated use of the mechanism. However, if it is wished to exchange one set of baffles for another considerable difficulty is encountered. Firstly, to exchange the baffles the baffle head must be disassembled from the two links and a new one reassembled. To ensure that any manufacturing tolerances in the new head are allowed for, it may be necessary to make a fine adjustment to the length of the second link. It may also be necessary to adjust the height of the baffle head. This is achieved by releasing the first link from the operating shaft and re-securing it to the shaft at the required height. Before finally securing the first link to the operating shaft, its orientation with respect to the shaft must be carefully checked to ensure that the operative position of the baffle is correct.
It will be seen that changing the baffle head in the aforesaid mechanism is a lengthy and time consuming operation.
It is one of the objects of the present invention to provide a mounting means for an operative member which is not only consistent and accurate in operation but which also allows for the convenient exchange of operative members and adjustment of their operating position.